Illuminating the transitional habitus of the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisor.

Jeanette E Maritz

doi:10.4102/hsag.v26i0.1660

Abstract

BackgroundEarly career health science professionals often find themselves in a transitional space when moving from a health science professional role to academia. The role of a postgraduate supervisor is especially troublesome. Transitional spaces often bring uncertainty and perceived or real threats, fear, worry, anxiety and stress. Without support, the result could be detrimental to the mental health of the early career as postgraduate supervisors, thereby impacting their professional identity formation.AimTo understand the underlying elements that shaped the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors’ habitus and how these features play out in their postgraduate supervision practice.SettingThe research study was carried out at an Open and Distance e-Learning University (ODeL) and a residential university.MethodsVisual elicitation methods in the form of seven drawings were used as data. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and hexis were used as a theoretical lens, and structural analysis with analytical memoing was used to interrogate the drawings.ResultsEarly career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors’ bodily habitus presented as fragmented or yet to be formed along with other entanglements, such as emotions, language, power and material arrangements.ConclusionThese features enable policymakers, employee assistance practitioners, educational developers and experienced academics to consider the changes and structural forces that need to be addressed to support early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors.ContributionA creative means of exploring the inner world of the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors is undertaken. In doing so, the research article potentially illuminates what has up to now been ‘unsaid’.

Highlights

Health science professionals (HSPs) may go through several transitions throughout their career; the most noteworthy and often discussed in the literature is the move from the student status to that of a newly qualified health science practitioner (Haplin, Terry & Curzio 2017)
Early career health science professionals often find themselves in a transitional space when moving from a health science professional role to academia
The result could be detrimental to the mental health of the early career as postgraduate supervisors, thereby impacting their professional identity formation

Summary

Introduction

Health science professionals (HSPs) may go through several transitions throughout their career; the most noteworthy and often discussed in the literature is the move from the student status to that of a newly qualified health science practitioner (Haplin, Terry & Curzio 2017). Career HSPs may experience several transitional challenges, such as a clash of cultures (clinical, professional, vs academia), which challenges their ability to assimilate. They may be competent clinical teachers; the demands of formal academic teaching often require alternative pedagogical approaches. These professionals may need to engage (often for the first time) with research, scholarship and postgraduate supervision (Hunter & Hayter 2019). Career health science professionals often find themselves in a transitional space when moving from a health science professional role to academia. The result could be detrimental to the mental health of the early career as postgraduate supervisors, thereby impacting their professional identity formation

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